Sumatra isn't as well known as what else is out there, but it does get a decent bit of press as an alternative to Adobe Reader. I do have to give Adobe credit for making Reader faster in recent versions -- I hadn't even noticed it as I haven't used its recent versions in years due to how slow the old versions were.
The main reason I started using Sumatra was because it actually works well at doing forward and inverse search with LaTeX text editors.
Yeah, it does have some nice features for those who use LaTeX. The fact that it doesn't lock PDF files means it's easy to do updates to the LaTeX file, rerun PDFTeX, and then refresh the PDF.
FWIW, the main reasons I started using Sumatra are speed (largely fixed in Reader 9, but the earlier versions took forever to load) and security (a large number of security researches recommend using non-Adobe software to read PDFs, and Sumatra often comes up on their list of approved readers).
Don't worry guys, Apreche spelled site wrong. It's not worth reading his arguments. Maybe if he could edit posts past the 30 minute mark he could fix the error of his ways but now it's just too late.
I've tried to use evince on Windows, and it's a little flaky. Works nicely on Linux. Preview works nicely on OSX. Windows... Adobe Reader.
Also, you keep complaining about JavaScript executing in the PDF as if that's a problem. You do realize that PDF is almost identical to PostScript. PostScript is a programming language. When you render a PDF, you execute PostScript code. Executing Javascript in addition is really not any different. Executing code is executing code.
Also, you keep complaining about JavaScript executing in the PDF as if that's a problem. You do realize that PDF is almost identical to PostScript. PostScript is a programming language. When you render a PDF, you execute PostScript code. Executing Javascript in addition is really not any different. Executing code is executing code.
PDF is based on PostScript, but it's a subset of it. It doesn't have support for if statements, flow control, loops, and such -- it's basically just the graphics commands from PostScript without any real programming constructs that would make it Turing-complete. The JavaScript interpreter in Adobe Reader is a full, Turing-complete implementation of JavaScript, if statements, loops, and all, just like you'd find in your browser.
Executing code may be executing code, but if the code is a restricted subset that isn't Turing-complete, it keeps you from doing a lot of stuff that you could otherwise do.
Omnutia: I also use the Chrome PDF viewer when I'm not viewing PDFs offline.
I pointed windows to use chrome for all PDFs and it works.
I've run into the odd PDF that Chrome won't display properly (in fact, Chrome itself issues a warning that it can't be displayed), but Sumatra reads them just fine in general.
I think the Chrome PDF viewer is pretty decent, but I don't like being unable to change the view mode (i.e. single-page vs facing and continuous vs discrete). Due to that (and due to perhaps one or two PDFs that Chrome screwed up on) I tend to just use the Sumatra plugin.
The flakiness I experienced with Evince on Windows was mostly lots of UI breakage. I couldn't remember anything specific, so I installed it. Maybe I would be able to remember/discover specific problems, or maybe they have been fixed in new versions.
In under a minute I found two problems. Can't move the Evince window while a menu is open. Also, very slow PDF redraw after resizing the window. It's little things like that that make the big difference. Tiny details that almost nobody notices, except Apple, are super important. Considering I found those two problems in under a minute, not exaggerating at all, I'm willing to bet that there are more. I don't remember ever having those problems with it on Linux.
Guys, software like this can and often is just fine! The point is that being open to installing these things without a good deal of due diligence means you're likely to install other things with a similar level of confidence which aren't fine. That's all.
I repeat. The vast majority of computer problems in the world are caused directly by users installing malware themselves.
Oh, another thing I don't like about the builtin Chrome PDF viewer is its lack of support for bookmarks.
You guys are bookmarking PDFs? How much PDF reading do you do?! I open a PDF maybe once a month, if that. And only for very short periods of time. Are you guys PDF junkies? Maybe that's why you need all these special readers.
How much PDF reading do you do?! I open a PDF maybe once a month, if that. And only for very short periods of time. Are you guys PDF junkies? Maybe that's why you need all these special readers.
Anyone reading academic literature, even to a relatively small degree, has to deal with a lot of PDFs. A lot of documentation and manuals also come in PDF form, and it's also important to have a good PDF viewer if you're using LaTeX.
University students and staff have to deal with several PDFs a day, for the aforementioned reasons, and because PDF tends to be the format of choice for most official course documents. PDF is also the most common format for pirated textbooks.
An interesting related question: how many people here have ever had cause to open a Djvu file? I've done it once or twice, but I hadn't realised until recently that Sumatra could open them, which is a nice bonus.
Guys, software like this can and often is just fine! The point is that being open to installing these things without a good deal of due diligence means you're likely to install other things with a similar level of confidence which aren't fine. That's all.
I repeat. The vast majority of computer problems in the world are caused directly by users installing malware themselves.
You do have a good point there about the due diligence. In my case, I only started using SumatraPDF after finding it mentioned on various websites I trusted -- including and especially websites run by reasonably well-known security researchers (either by name or by the company/organization/etc. they work for). The fact that it was open source was an added bonus.
If it was J-random piece of software that wasn't open source, wasn't vetted by other trusted websites, and wasn't vetted by security researchers, I wouldn't have downloaded it.
Nine edit: stop using obsolete tags or you'll be frowned at.
THAT WOULD BE A FIRST! SORRY FOR THE LATE RESPONSE, I WAS MAKING DINNER. I ASSUMED THAT PEOPLE IN THE US WERE AT WORK AT THIS HOUR. APPARENTLY I WAS MISTAKEN. I HOPE YOU WILL ACCEPT MY COMPROMISE. EITHER WAY, PLEASE HAVE THE DECENCY OF LETTING THE TEXT STAND, OKAY? THERE IS STILL DISCUSSION SOMEWHERE IN THESE LINES. I THANK YOU KINDLY FOR THE WARNING, DISRUPTION OF THE CONVERSATION, AND FORCEFUL CENSORING OF OTHER PEOPLE. I AM AWARE THIS ISN'T A DEMOCRACY, SHUT UP.
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Oh, FWIW, The Free Software Foundation Europe also recommends Sumatra.
Sumatra isn't as well known as what else is out there, but it does get a decent bit of press as an alternative to Adobe Reader. I do have to give Adobe credit for making Reader faster in recent versions -- I hadn't even noticed it as I haven't used its recent versions in years due to how slow the old versions were.
FWIW, the main reasons I started using Sumatra are speed (largely fixed in Reader 9, but the earlier versions took forever to load) and security (a large number of security researches recommend using non-Adobe software to read PDFs, and Sumatra often comes up on their list of approved readers).
Also, you keep complaining about JavaScript executing in the PDF as if that's a problem. You do realize that PDF is almost identical to PostScript. PostScript is a programming language. When you render a PDF, you execute PostScript code. Executing Javascript in addition is really not any different. Executing code is executing code.
Executing code may be executing code, but if the code is a restricted subset that isn't Turing-complete, it keeps you from doing a lot of stuff that you could otherwise do.
Omnutia: I also use the Chrome PDF viewer when I'm not viewing PDFs offline.
In under a minute I found two problems. Can't move the Evince window while a menu is open. Also, very slow PDF redraw after resizing the window. It's little things like that that make the big difference. Tiny details that almost nobody notices, except Apple, are super important. Considering I found those two problems in under a minute, not exaggerating at all, I'm willing to bet that there are more. I don't remember ever having those problems with it on Linux.
Oh, another thing I don't like about the builtin Chrome PDF viewer is its lack of support for bookmarks.
I repeat. The vast majority of computer problems in the world are caused directly by users installing malware themselves.
http://www.atmel.com/Images/doc2486.pdf
University students and staff have to deal with several PDFs a day, for the aforementioned reasons, and because PDF tends to be the format of choice for most official course documents. PDF is also the most common format for pirated textbooks.
An interesting related question: how many people here have ever had cause to open a Djvu file? I've done it once or twice, but I hadn't realised until recently that Sumatra could open them, which is a nice bonus.
If it was J-random piece of software that wasn't open source, wasn't vetted by other trusted websites, and wasn't vetted by security researchers, I wouldn't have downloaded it.